Small, crystal tears dropped from his eyes, framing his cheeks with beads of gleaming water. My movements paused and my initial lackadaisical thoughts seemed to scatter away. I felt a bud of guilt spread in my heart and silently walked down the shallow staircase, patting his head with an awkward half-smile.

I pried the prince's hand off my shoulder and rubbed his back consolingly. Unsure of what to do, I first covered his tear-stained face with my figure and moved him to the side of the first floor.

"Hey, why are you crying?" I gruffly said. "S-stop crying..." I felt apprehensive. What exactly am I supposed to do with a crying prince? I fumbled around.

"Come over here." I grabbed his hand and pulled him away. He stuck close to me, with his head buried in the crook of my neck. I could feel his warm breath caress my nape. I tugged him up the stairs with slight urgency, moving him into the familiar isolated corner of the second floor. I set him on the floor and sat right next to him. I didn't know where his servants had gone since he started crying. I felt a bit sour, wondering why the responsibility was pushed onto me.

I tried to free my hand from his, but he seemed adamant, his grip growing tighter when I tried to push him away.

"It'll be fine." I ran my fingers through his hair soothingly. Eventually, I relented and simply let him lie his head on my lap.

I thought back to my first meetings with the prince. Ah, the things I excused just because 'he was my bias'. I exhaled. That was why I let him get away with his demands for sweets and his claims of 'forced meetings'.

I shook my head and snapped out of my daze. Sighing tiredly, I eyed at the pile of books just far enough so I couldn't reach it. Despite my utter dissatisfaction, I bitterly stoned my face and sat still to coax him.

Damn, where is Zier?

----

(A/N: Zier's POV.)

"Young Master Theodore, the mistress ordered that you finish the current records for the expenses in the mansion."

A servant walked in with quiet steps and bowed in front of the table, presenting the files in his hand. Theodore rubbed his tired eyes and stood. The table in front of him shook from his movements, making one of the stacks of paper fall onto the floor in a dramatic flourish.

Zier took a glance at the fallen files and immediately slammed the pen in his hand onto the papers in frustration. The servant's heart jumped. He had never seen an instance where his Young Master had such rage before, but he understood. The mistress had suddenly begun to pile on a tremendous amount of work on the Young Master, making it difficult for him to even sleep.

He, personally, didn't understand the motive behind her inexplicable actions. What was the point of pushing on such menial work when that work could simply be delegated to some servants?

The servant shook his head and sighed. Forget it, in the end, it was none of his business. He gently set down the records in his hand and dismissed himself. "Then, I must be going, Young Master."

Zier waited until the door clicked shut before he collapsed back onto his chair, sighing wearily. "Mother must be trying to kill me..." He muttered. He took the next set of papers, and with tired eyes, continued with his head propped on his hand.

----

The servant zoomed through the bright marble hallways and knocked on the mistress' study door.

"Come in." A flamboyant voice answered, and the servant hastily turned the doorknob and walked in.

"Lift your head. We aren't going to kill you, you know." A different voice, much more strict and sharp, commanded. The servant felt his heart quiver. I would rather keep it down, thank you very much, he thought, but afraid to disobey her, he still lifted his head reluctantly.

Two figures were sitting in the lounging area of the room. Their legs were crossed, with a delicate porcelain tea set tastefully laid out on the table in front of them. Both seemed to be in a good mood, with their teacups lifted cheerily.

The flamboyant woman laughed lightheartedly. "Have you finished delivering the records to my son?" She asked.

The servant nodded dutifully. "Yes, Mistress."

Her smile grew wider. "That's wonderful. On the floor, over there, is another stack of documents regarding the maintenance of the garden outside our mansion premises."

The sharp-looking woman followed the mistress's gaze and cast a quick glance at the stack of papers, her lips curling into a rare smile. The servant shuddered and looked away, trying to cover the horrified expression on his face.

He knew the two women well. Both were devils and were ruthless in any action they took. It was best to leave as soon as possible. He hastened his pace and lunged to take the stack of papers.

"Mistress, Madam Rosé, I will bring the documents to Young Master Theodore. Is there anything else you require of me?" His voice quaked as he uttered the last few words. He watched as the two women chuckled to themselves and waved him away.

"No, that'd be all." The Mistress waved him away casually. The servant dashed out of the room as fast as his legs could walk.

Shivering, he thought, they're in a good mood today, they must be conspiring to kill someone.

The servant closed the door quickly, his footsteps quickly fading away from earshot. The original wicked smiles of the two burst into an ear-to-ear grin. They immediately began speaking, their voices hushed, like they carried the weight of a grave secret.

"So, who is it? Who are they? I mean, why would you make me do this to my own son if not for..." the mistress trailed off, her teacup trembling from her excitement.

"Oh, I bet you can't guess. After all, their relationship... is taboo." Madam Rosé leaned forward and murmured, her eyes darting around mischievously..

The mistress squealed, jumping out of her seat and running to Rosé in a leap.

The madam continued. "Separated by their master-servant relationship... their status will never let their love bear fruit.."

"Tell me!" She exclaimed heatedly.

"Oh, but I can't..." she sighed and shook her head, but her gleaming eyes told a different story.

"...after all, it's the crown prince we're talking about."

The mistress' mouth fell open in astonishment.

"And the Xenith countdom's most cherished young master is being courted by the prince." Rosé added.

"Not to mention," the madam struggled to hold back her maniacal giggles, "your son is competing for the affection of the pampered young master, creating a wave of jealousy that threatens to overshadow the gentle prince's pursuit."

Overwhelmed, The mistress fainted from delirium.

----

(A/N: Remis' POV.)

I sat there, with the prince's body slumped against mine. Every now and then, he would make sniffling noises, though his nose wasn't red. It seemed as if he was making excuses to stop me from pushing him off of my lap. I breathed in and out with my eyelids slumped in boredom. Lucius nuzzled into the crook of my belly, his head gently bobbing with my breathing.

After waiting for another five minutes, I repeated my question once again. "Prince, can you move now-"

"No," he instantly shot me down.

I groaned and moved my gaze back to the wooden plank ceiling.

"Can you at least tell me why?" I muttered.

"I'll tell you if you call me Lucius." The prince said.

"...your highness, I already told you I can't." I rubbed my brows in annoyance.

"...unfair." He flipped over and buried his face into my lower abdomen. I felt his nose intentionally prodding into my stomach. I quivered, trying to hold in my laughter, but remained still with a strained expression.

"What do you mean, unfair?" I grumbled, a bit vexed. My voice trembled slightly from the tickling sensations on my stomach.

"...nickname, he got it from you." His voice was muffled.

"What?" I asked, leaning closer.

"If he has a nickname, why can't I have one!" The prince flipped over, exclaiming. His face rested a few inches from mine.

What is this tsun-tsun on? I grumbled internally.

"Who are you talking about?" I said.

"That Audovár duke's son!" He gritted his teeth.

Visible question marks appeared above my head. "I don't know anyone from Audovár."

The prince snorted, puffing out his cheeks in indignation. "Don't play dumb! That meddlesome Theodore Audovár, I know you call him Zier!"

My face turned blank.

"Hahaha... Zier is your cousin, prince, he's not some duke's son," I chuckled awkwardly and denied.

The prince's original tsundere disposition seemed to disappear, and his words turned more sharp and straightforward.

"Hah! A cousin, that meddlesome person is not my cousin! Why would you ever think that way!" His cheeks flushed in frustration.

I felt a pang of disbelief hit me. A sense of wronging fell on my shoulders. My eyes glazed over as I thought back to our first meeting in the archives, when the sky turned dark and our excited voices cut through the blank silence of the building.

"-imagine if you're part of the Audovár dukedom! Wouldn't that be a great nightmare!" I exclaimed.

The edges of his mouth twitched.

"Ah, I mean, it's not like I hate the dukedom or anything, no, in fact, I love them! I-I mean, I don't love them, but of course I respect them deeply! Hahahaha, it was a slip of the tongue... haha, I mean, I find 'great nightmare' to be quite endearing, just in my personal opinion..." I rambled.

"Rem... did I do something wrong...?" He whimpered.

"N-no! You did nothing wrong! It was me, that was my fault!" I said.

"So then Rem will like me forever, right?"

I nodded vehemently, trying to appease the aggrieved boy. "Yes, yes!"

He beamed and laughed brightly.

"I'm a distant relative of the King. My name's Zier."

My smile immediately fell apart.

"Hah, you've got to be kidding me..." I gritted my teeth. I was the one who encouraged him to lie. Ah, why... why did I...!

Zier, it turns out, was just an alias.

I fucked up. Ahh, but why did he have to be...

Theodore Audovár, the heir of the Audovár dukedom. Also known as capture target no. 4, the puppy-boy.